Apollo Capital Calls Out MediPharm Chairman Chris Taves (Managing Director, BMO Capital Markets) for Failure to Properly Communicate to Shareholders Details of David Pidduck’s Past as CEO and VP of Marketing for OxyContin® Manufacturer Purdue Pharma
Opioid-Pusher Pidduck, Chairman Chris Taves and the Current MediPharm Board Have Presided Over $1 Billion in Shareholder Value Destruction while funneling $5,587,059 of the Shareholders’ Money Directly into Pidduck’s Pocket
Apollo Capital’s Six Director Nominees Are Committed to Restoring Transparency and Value to MediPharm’s Shareholders
URGES SHAREHOLDERS TO DISREGARD MEDIPHARM LABS’ GREEN PROXY CARD AND VOTE THE GOLD PROXY CARD "FOR" APOLLO CAPITAL'S SIX DIRECTOR NOMINEES
TORONTO, May 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apollo Technology Capital Corporation (“Apollo Capital”), which together with its affiliates and associates collectively is one of the largest shareholders of MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX: LABS) (OTCQB: MEDIF) (FSE: MLZ) (“MediPharm”, “MediPharm Labs”, or the “Company”), owning approximately 3% of the Company’s common stock, today issued a statement regarding CEO David Pidduck’s background as former CEO & President of Purdue Pharma Canada (“Purdue Pharma”).
Fellow shareholders deserve to know the truth regarding CEO David Pidduck. As stewards of a publicly traded company, MediPharm’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) have a responsibility to uphold transparency, accountability, and good governance. The current Board, which has overseen $1 billion of shareholder value destruction, and which has presided over an eye-watering 99% share price decline, is focused on downplaying Mr. Pidduck’s past, rather than its responsibilities to shareholders. Indeed, there was absolutely no reference to Pidduck’s role at Purdue Pharma, or of Purdue Pharma’s culpability in creating the opioid epidemic, in the Company’s press release announcing Mr. Pidduck’s appointment as CEO.
Let’s look at the facts:
From 2014 until December 2021, David Pidduck served as VP of Marketing, and then CEO & President of Purdue Pharma.
As reported in the Globe and Mail, “More than 34,000 Canadians have died from opioids between January 2016, and September 2022, according to federal government data.”1
In 2017, Purdue Canada agreed to pay $20 million to settle a class-action lawsuit involving allegations about how its pain pills were over-marketed, with the suit claiming that Purdue Pharma had engaged in deceitful marketing practices. In an interview with the CBC, Dr. David Juurlink, a drug safety researcher at the University of Toronto posited that, “the fair question that might be asked is did Purdue engage in questionable or even illegal activities in the marketing of OxyContin® in Canada.”2
In 2020, Purdue Pharma’s U.S. entity pleaded guilty to three criminal charges over the handling of its painkiller OxyContin®, including conspiring to defraud officials and paying illegal kickbacks to doctors in a bid to keep prescriptions flowing.3
In 2022, it was announced that Purdue Pharma agreed to pay a $150 million settlement in a proposed class action launched in 2018 on behalf of all provincial, territorial and federal governments, alleging that opioid manufacturers and distributors engaged in deceptive marketing practices that amplified addiction, destroying countless lives and killing of thousands of people. This remains the largest settlement of a governmental health claim in Canadian history.4
Apollo Capital asks its fellow Shareholders – do you feel like Medipharm Chairman Chris Taves fulfilled his fiduciary duty, and even his moral duty to you, to make you aware of Opioid- Pusher Pidduck's past with Purdue Pharma when he hired him as the CEO to steward your investments?
Apollo Capital asks its fellow Shareholders – do you feel like Medipharm Chairman Chris Taves properly represented Pidduck’s past to you when he asked you on multiple occasions to vote on Opioid-Pusher Pidduck’s outrageous and off-market compensation package?
Apollo asks its fellow Shareholders – do you feel like the details of Pidduck’s very recent past were MATERIAL facts that Medipharm Chairman Chris Taves should have made crystal clear to you so that you could have made a more informed decision before voting for nearly SIX MILLION DOLLARS of YOUR money to end up in Opioid-Pusher Pidduck’s pocket?
While Shareholders have suffered immense losses with no path to stop the bleeding, Mr. Pidduck has benefited from the Board’s largesse with an excessive and off-market compensation package that has funneled $5,587,059 of Shareholders’ money directly to Pidduck, despite MediPharm’s share price plummeting nearly to zero.
Shareholders should demand accountability from the Board at the 2025 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on June 16, 2025. Apollo Capital has nominated six highly qualified individuals; namely, Regan McGee, Scott Walters, David Lontini, Demetrios Mallios, John Fowler and Alan D. Lewis (the “Apollo Nominees”) to replace the incumbents and hold the Board accountable for destroying one billion dollars of shareholder value, enriching themselves at your expense, and enabling a CEO whose actions have driven operational and strategic failure and arguably much, much worse.
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The opioid crisis continues to be devastating for people across the country in terms of lives lost, families torn apart and the impact on our health care frontline staff.
Victims who before February 28, 2017 were prescribed in Canada and ingested OxyContin® tablets and/or OxyNEO® tablets, can visit https://oxycontinclassactionsettlement.com/ for more information.
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MediPharm Labs Shareholders can visit www.CureMediPharm.com, to sign up for important campaign updates.
To access Apollo Capital's Circular and related proxy materials, including a proxy or voting instruction form, visit SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Contacts
For Shareholders: Carson Proxy North American Toll-Free Phone: 1-800-530-5189 Local or Text Message: 416-751-2066 (collect calls accepted) E: info@carsonproxy.com
Information in Support of Public Broadcast Exemption under Canadian Law
In connection with the Annual Meeting, Apollo Capital has filed an amended and restated dissident information circular (the "Circular") in compliance with applicable corporate and securities laws. Apollo Capital has provided in, or incorporated by reference into, this press release the disclosure required under section 9.2(4) of NI 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102") and the corresponding exemption under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), and has filed the Circular, available under MediPharm's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. The Circular contains disclosure prescribed by applicable corporate law and disclosure required under section 9.2(6) of NI 51-102 in respect of Apollo Capital's director nominees, in accordance with corporate and securities laws applicable to public broadcast solicitations. The Circular is hereby incorporated by reference into this press release and is available under MediPharm's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. The registered office of the Company is 151 John Street, Barrie, Ontario, Canada L4N 2L1.
SHAREHOLDERS OF MEDIPHARM ARE URGED TO READ THE CIRCULAR CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and shareholders are able to obtain free copies of the Circular and any amendments or supplements thereto and further proxy circulars at no charge under MediPharm's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. In addition, shareholders are also able to obtain free copies of the Circular and other relevant documents by contacting Apollo Capital's proxy solicitor, Carson Proxy Advisors Ltd. ("Carson Proxy") at 1-800-530-5189, local (collect outside North America): 416-751-2066 or by email at info@carsonproxy.com.
Proxies may be revoked in accordance with subsection 110(4) of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) by a registered shareholder of Company shares: (a) by completing and signing a valid proxy bearing a later date and returning it in accordance with the instructions contained in the accompanying form of proxy; (b) by depositing an instrument in writing executed by the shareholder or by the shareholder's attorney authorized in writing; (c) by transmitting by telephonic or electronic means a revocation that is signed by electronic signature in accordance with applicable law, as the case may be: (i) at the registered office of the Company at any time up to and including the last business day preceding the day the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement of the Annual Meeting is to be held, or (ii) with the chair of the Annual Meeting on the day of the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement of the Annual Meeting; or (d) in any other manner permitted by law. In addition, proxies may be revoked by a non-registered holder of Company shares at any time by written notice to the intermediary in accordance with the instructions given to the non-registered holder by its intermediary. It should be noted that revocation of proxies or voting instructions by a non-registered holder can take several days or even longer to complete and, accordingly, any such revocation should be completed well in advance of the deadline prescribed in the form of proxy or voting instruction form to ensure it is given effect in respect of the Annual Meeting.
The costs incurred in the preparation and mailing of any circular or proxy solicitation by Apollo Capital and any other participants named herein will be borne directly and indirectly by Apollo Capital. However, to the extent permitted under applicable law, Apollo Capital intends to seek reimbursement from the Company of all expenses incurred in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the election of its director nominees at the Annual Meeting.
This press release and any solicitation made by Apollo Capital is, or will be, as applicable, made by such parties, and not by or on behalf of the management of the Company. Proxies may be solicited by proxy circular, mail, telephone, email or other electronic means, as well as by newspaper or other media advertising and in person by managers, directors, officers and employees of Apollo Capital who will not be specifically remunerated therefor. In addition, Apollo Capital may solicit proxies by way of public broadcast, including press release, speech or publication and any other manner permitted under applicable Canadian laws, and may engage the services of one or more agents and authorize other persons to assist it in soliciting proxies on their behalf.
Apollo Capital has entered into an agreement with Carson Proxy Advisors ("Carson Proxy") for solicitation and advisory services in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Meeting, for which Carson Proxy will receive a fee not to exceed $250,000, together with reimbursement for reasonable and out-of-pocket expenses. Apollo Capital has also engaged Gasthalter & Co. LP ("G&Co") to act as communications consultant to provide Apollo Capital with certain communications, public relations and related services, for which G&Co will receive a minimum fee of US$75,000 in addition to a performance fee of US$250,000 in the event that Apollo Capital's nominees make up a majority of the Board following the Annual Meeting, plus excess fees, related costs and expenses.
No member of Apollo Capital nor any of their associates or affiliates has or has had any material interest, direct or indirect, in any transaction since the beginning of the Company's last completed financial year or in any proposed transaction that has materially affected or will or would materially affect the Company or any of the Company's affiliates. No member of Apollo Capital nor any of their associates or affiliates has any material interest, direct or indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter to be acted upon at the Annual Meeting, other than setting the number of directors, the election of directors, the appointment of auditors and the approval of the ordinary resolution approving, among other things, the Company's amended and restated equity incentive plan dated May 8, 2025 and the unallocated awards available thereunder.
This press release contains forward‐looking statements. All statements contained in this filing that are not clearly historical in nature or that necessarily depend on future events are forward‐looking, and the words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward‐looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of Apollo Capital and currently available information. They are not guarantees of future performance, involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. All forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as of the date hereof and Apollo Capital disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur, or of which Apollo Capital hereafter becomes aware, except as required by applicable law.
